Julia has worked in electricity and natural gas regulation and transactions for over 25 years. She currently focuses on promotion of investment in clean energy and energy efficiency projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the countries of South East Europe.
She has worked on a wide variety of matters related to investment in energy infrastructure and in regulation of electricity production, distribution, and transmission, in Albania, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, France, Georgia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Ukraine.
In the U.S., she worked for many years on regulation of natural gas pipelines, representing local distribution companies, marketers and gas-fired generators.
Julia advises emerging market governments, private investors, international financial institutions, electricity transmission system operators, and electricity market operators in the following areas:
- public-private partnerships in energy infrastructure projects
- privatization of state-owned energy sector asses
- energy sector restructuring
- renewable energy development
- energy legislation
- wholesale electricity market design
- regulatory capacity building
Recent Experience
Julia is currently working in:
- Albania under a USAID-funded project on a draft Power Sector Law and discussions with the Energy Community Secretariat regarding amendments to the Albanian Market Design
- Central and Eastern Europe leading a legal review of sector policies addressing climate change and promoting the transition to low carbon economies
- Georgia on issues related to promotion of private investment in the development of small and medium hydropower projects for export of power to Turkey and other neighboring countries
- Ukraine on compliance of Ukrainian laws with the Protocol on Accession of Ukraine to the energy Community; reviewing electricity sector legal acts and advising on drafting of amendments to bring laws in line with those of European Union Directives
- Central Asia on creation of regional electricity and gas markets to encourage coordination of cross-border interconnection investments
- Kyrgyzstan on project documents and other contract issues related to public-private partnership for high-voltage transmission line linking the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan
Honors & Distinctions
Julia is Chair of the Energy Bar Association's International Energy and Transactions Committee and has held positions as Board Member of the Women's Council on Energy and the Environment and the District of Columbia Women's Bar Association.
Julia has an AV® Preeminent™ rating in
Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected as a "2013 Top Rated Lawyer" by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell™. She was also listed in the summer edition of Arrive Magazine (distributed on Amtrak trains) as one of the AV® Preeminent™ women lawyers practicing in the Boston to Washington D.C. corridor.
Professional Activities
Member, Energy Bar Association
Member, Women's Council on Energy & the Environment
Member, Canadian American Bar Association
Member, DC Bar Association
Publications
Energy Law Journal, Vol. 31, No. 1, Report of the Renewable Energy & Demand-Side Management Committee (2010) (contributor to annual report)
Civic Activities
Board Member, Wildwood Manor Community Swimming Pool Association, 2007-2010